Holidupdate

     Just a quick announcement to say that this blog is going on a bit of a Holiday vacation, because hopefully all of you have something better to do than read this for the next couple of weeks.  While I can't say I won't throw up a quick entry if some interesting news drops, I can say the regular Wednesday updates and Friday #beertography will return after the 1st of the year.  Until then, why not entertain yourself by reading my Top 10 Beers I first drank in 2013?

     Merry thingstuff!

Obligatory End of Year List Time!

     As we get closer to the end of the year, it's time to do what every other dang blog in the world is going to do.  A Top 10 in 2013 list!  In this case I'm going to do The Top Ten Beer I had for the first time in 2013.  They don't have to have come out in 2013 (and I think that would be a less interesting list because it would ultimately include lower-rated beers thanks to the added criteria), just I had to have that beer for the first time in sometime in 2013.  That would include any "version" of the beer so... let's get an honorable mention out of the way.  I loved the heck out of Stone Brewing Co's Stone Enjoy By 04.01.13 IPA, it's technically just a different batch of a beer I had for the first time on 2012.  So, despite it being one of my higher rated beers in 2013, it didn't make the cut.  Oh, and if you're like me and noticing omissions of certain brewers I've shouted my love from the rooftops for, it's probably because I simply had most of their beers in 2012 or prior.

    Before getting in to this, I should add a blah blah that these are purely my opinions, but I also am notoriously bad about picking a favorite anything.  That said, I didn't want this list to be a cop out, so the criteria for ordering these is basically a mash-up oh how well I rated the beers on Untappd (and how consistent that rating was over repeated tastings) and my memory of how feverishly I sought out more of that beer because I just had to have more.

     Enough doobly doo, let's get in to it!

10.  Brash Brewing Company Smoglifter - The first couple of entries on the list are going to be pretty similar in that I only got to try this beer once, but was super impressed by it.  Smoglifter is a chocolate milk stout that lived up to it's name.  It's rich, sweet, and hides that fact that's got a 10% ABV pretty well.  When I aggregated this list, I was actually surprised I rated it so favorably but hadn't sought it out since, so here it sits at the bottom.  I may have to correct that mistake pretty soon, though.

9.  Founders Brewing Co Doom - Another big beer that I had only once, but this time that was due to the fact that this one's rather hard to come by.  Very often, as I've talked about before, I get less interested in beer when there's crazy hype around it and people stepping over their own grandmothers to get at a bottle, so I never personally sought this out.  Instead, someone brought it along to one of our monthly tastings, and I'm sure glad they did because it ended up beer of the night.  Silky oak, apricot, honey and perhaps a touch of rind made this a unique IPA if I've ever had one.

8.   Sixpoint Brewery 3Beans - Beer is pretty great, right?  So's coffee.  Some of my first ever craft beers were coffee porters.  Although Sixpoint never really makes anything that can be pinned down to any one style, this is a dang fine coffee something-or-other.  It's another big one, so it comes in one of those "nanokegs", which is a crying shame because I always wanted a bigger serving of this one.  Le sigh.

7.  Uinta Brewing Company Sea Legs - I'll tell you a secret about me, but you have to promise not to tell nobody.  Cool?  I love Baltic Porters.  If Baltic Porters were a sexy lady, I'd marry them.  If they were a bowl of Boo Berry, I'd have them for breakfast.  Porters are actually my favorite style of beer, and adding some anise and big boozy sweetness just ups the ante.  I got to enjoy this one a couple of times in 2013, and it was a dark and creamy good time on all occasions that we got to be in the same room.

6.  Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter - Yes, it's another dark beer.  Get used to it, bucko, because this is my list!  Also, it's another imperial, so let it be said that I've never been afraid of a beer that could take me in a fight.  This one was so lovely, I even recommended it to Aquaman (ah, the good old days).  Another hint at how much I enjoyed this one... my initial notes for tasting it just say "wow".

5.  Jack's Abby Brewing The ABCS - Let's step away from dark beers for a hot minute and talk about lovely, lovely Double IPL.  Jack's Abby has put out a few beers of this style, and they've all beer vastly different.  This one is downright tropical, and is a treat from the first smell.  In fact, this could probably top a best-smelling beer list, but we must taste beers, too!  The mouthfeel I can only describe as juicy.  I'm salivating a little bit just remembering it, which I think is very appropriate for a top five beer.

4.  Idle Hands Craft Ales Absence of Light - And just like that, back to the dark.  Now, I may be bending the rules for this one just a little bit, but if that makes you upset... well, why don't you get a friend with a brewing operation and write posts for him unrelated to his brewery in the name of web presence instead?  *ahem*  Anyway, I had a different version of this prior to 2013 when it was a pilot batch called "Belgo Stout".  I can assure you, though, that this is a different and more complete beer.  Everything about it works.  The candy sugars, which find cloying in some beers, really add to this and help it become an amazing stout.

3.  Slumbrew (Somerville Brewing Company) Sittin' on Hop of the World - Those sly devils at Slumbrew put out a lot of "limited" batches in the last couple of years, and this one is probably my favorite beer they've ever done.  In fact, in the limited window of release on this simply divine Peach IPA, I managed to have five full bottles of it.  It was just right.  Not too bitter, not too sweet, just enough peach... and smelled beyond amazing.  I even found a late, hop-faded bottle of this and didn't care because the smell was still that good.

2.   Stone Brewing Co / Aleman / Two Brothers Dayman Coffee IPA - Sometimes, love hurts.  This limited collaboration dropped at my local shop with a two bottle limit, and the idea of combining coffee and IPA had me all too excited to meet that quota.  When I tasted the dark, fresh coffee with just the right balance of citrusy hops, it was like someone had bottled the dreams that I never even new I had.  But, alas, after that first two bottles, I couldn't find any more.  And believe me, I looked at and called every place I could think of in the area.  I eventually found it on tap a few months later, and nearly dropped dead of joy-shock.  Unfortunately, both the coffee and the hops had faded, making it a bittersweet reunion with my one-time love.  Seriously, there needs to be more coffee IPAs out there.  I may have had one besides this ever.

...You're probably wondering what could possibly top that tale of passion.

1.  Jack's Abby Brewing Barrel Aged Framinghammer - The tale of a love denied can only be bested by the tale of a love fulfilled!  This big Baltic had it all, and I totally let it take me behind the jungle gym on the playground at the middle school.  Every time I saw this beer, I bought the heck out of it.  I enjoyed it myself on multiple occasions, and brought it along more than a few times when hanging with friends just so that they could experience this beer.  Bourbon, chocolate, vanilla and coffee notes.  The anise was a bit covered up, but still there.  This was a complicated beer to start, and it was even better with some age on it.  9 months brought out a really smooth, warm vanilla feel to it.  This beer is also mere weeks away from 2014 release, and you can be sure I'll be doubling down on this one now that I know what it has to offer.

     That's it for this year!  Agree?  Complaints?  Hate my guts?  Comment and list some of your favorites from this year!

Friday #beertography 9

Every Friday I share a few pieces of my aspiring #beertography in hopes that some of you will play along and share your own!

Left Hand Brewing Company - Milk Stout and Milk Stout Nitro

Brewery Ommegang - Game of Thrones: Take the Black Stout

Great Rhythm Brewing Co - Resonation Pale Ale

Elegy for The Barley Pub

     It is a sad day on the Seacoast, my friends.  The Barley Pub in Dover, NH is closing.  This is yet another body blow to the Dover craft beer scene, after beloved bottle shop Smiley's Discount Beverage closed last February.  In both cases, there was and is some mystery and possible subterfuge surrounding the closures.  In the case of The Barley Pub, on the night before the announcement, the pub's Facebook announced they would be closed for the night due to a sudden kitchen disaster.  The next day, they apologized for the "spin" and blamed their closure on the economy and their recent move.

     The Barley Pub had, almost exactly a year ago, expanded and moved locations.  Although they just moved across the street from their previous location, the new space was far, far larger and they had hopes of incorporating their own brews into the menu.  The new location, and this is possibly telling, was also one of those spots that never seemed to stay open for long.  Since I lived in Dover back in about 2007, I think the same spot has featured at least four different bars or clubs.

     It would be all too easy to engage in wild speculation here, as it seems we probably don't have the full story.  You can assume rent was steep on their little corner, and that moving and expanding certainly requires some capital, but the fact that a place that was doing well enough to want to expand closed within a year of doing so just stinks of something "else" happening.  That was the case with Smiley's, who had at first said they were closing for "renovations", and the real story eventually came out that several reasons, including soaring utility bills thanks to a neglectful landlord, contributed to the shop's closure.  And we may get some weird and unfortunate story about the Barley Pub.  Eventually.  Who knows?  Still, I'd rather indulge in some of my Barley Pub memories than cry conspiracy.

     Who in Dover hadn't been to The Barley Pub when it snowed and "the Guinness flowed"?  That means when the white fluffy stuff came down, so did the beer prices.  When living in Dover, there was more than a couple of days that an impeding snow storm caused my job to send us all home early... and that was excuse enough to head down to The Barley Pub for some inexpensive pints, some board games, and good times with friends.  It's a shame that I wasn't in Dover for more winters.  I did visit The Barley Pub at other times and in other seasons, but there was something special and infectious about the mood all of us got in whilst day drinking instead of working.  Seriously, what could be better than that?  Plus, if you got in early enough, you could totally snag the window seat and watch as the snow fell.

     

     It was also at The Barley Pub that Jay first told me about his plans for Big Red Beard Brewing Company.  So, in a way, The Barley Pub is somewhat wrapped up in the genesis of me writing this.  Sure, if it hadn't been there, I would have heard his business plan for the first time at another bar, but Barley Pub and it's mug club was the choice of our little circle for a reason, so it's wholly appropriate that that's where it went down.

     Fairly recently, some friends and I went on a Seacoast brewery tour.  There was no real reason for us to go to Dover.  At the time (and at time of writing), there were no brick and mortar brewery locations to visit that far up the Seacoast.  But still, we decided to travel a little further and start our day with lunch and pints and the good ol' Barley Pub.  Since I'm a transplant to MA, I hadn't actually been to the "new" Barley Pub yet, and this was my first and, sadly, last opportunity to do so.  Even without my natural affinity for the new location (when compared to the old), it was still a great kickoff to a great day.  The food was amazing (Barley Pub didn't really serve much food before the move), but I got to introduce my friends to a few choice drinks they still buy frequently.

     Of course, this news comes at an especially bitter time, not that there ever could be a good time for something like this.  And I don't just mean that snow is imminent and that a nice, dry stout pairs nicely with that, but that's also true.  More importantly, craft beer is really beginning to boom on the Seacoast.  I highlighted both breweries and restaurants along the corridor before, and I've really only scratched the surface.  It's a shame that a staple of the community, having been open for 14 years now, wasn't able to ride that lightning.  Barley Pub, I'm sad to see you go, but I certainly won't forget the good times.

Friday #beertography 8

     Oops.  Better late than never.

 

21st Amendment Brewery* / Elysian Brewing Company - He Said and He Said

(* Happy Prohibition Repeal Day!)

Baxter Brewing Co - Phantom Punch Winter Stout

Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) -  Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout

Boston Beer Corridor Gets Bigger

    I've talked about the beer corridor in and around Boston before, but there's been a few updates since then.  Plus, sometimes, it's just nice to be able to talk about something without having to throw out a contending opinion.  After all, more beery places to go is simply good for everyone.

    A bit of news popped up from Idle Hands Craft Ales' earlier this week.  They're entering in to a business partnership with Enlightenment Ales, formerly of Lowell, MA.  Both breweries will now be under one roof in Everett, with both company's beers available on site... and with Enlightement's Ben Howe taking the title of head brewer for the new joint venture.  All good news.  If you haven't had anything by Enlightenment, their specialty Enlightenment Brut (a "Bière de Champagne") is quite nice and a style not widely available, to my knowledge, save for Sam Adams' Infinium which, sorry, doesn't touch Enlightenment's interpretation.  But forget that... in my opinion, Enlightenment really shines with their saisons/farmhouse ales.  Illumination and Rite of Spring are both lovely.  And, as the weather gets colder, let's note that both companies have some great stouts.  Enlightnment offers an export style stout with Cosmos, while Idle Hands' Belgo stout Absence of Light garnered a rare 5 stars from me on Untappd.

     But that's not all the news!  Night Shift Brewery, located in Everett right dang next to Idles Hands/Enlightenment, is slated to be moving just a bit down the road to a significantly larger space.  With, thank goodness, parking.  And if you're paying extra close attention, this is actually significant alongside the Idle Hands news, as they will be free to expand into Night Shift's old space.

   And that's ALSO not all!  Now, this may not exactly be beer, but just about the finest cider I've ever had is Downeast Cider House's Original Blend (especially on tap!).  Unlike a lot of ciders I've had, which are thin, yellow and sweet, this stuff is cloudy brown and just a bit tart.  Basically, it tastes like actual apple orchard cider... but with booze.  Yay!  Anyway, Downeast is about to throw their launch party this Saturday, December 7th, in Boston.  Their place is just over the bridge from Chelsea, which I will note is home of Mystic Brewery, and just south of the other breweries we've been speaking of.  Seeing a theme here?  Beer corridor!

     Now that you've crossed the bridge into Boston, you can visit the three (yes, really just three) breweries there.  In addition to Sam Adams' "R&D Brewery" in Jamaica Plain, South Boston's Trillium Brewing Company and Harpoon Brewery are right down the street from one another and, while I'm sure everyone's had Harpoon, criminally fewer people have had Trillium.  And wouldn't you know, I have news related to that, too.  See, Trillium was originally unable to serve samples of its beer on site.  That problem has been rectified.  Now you have no excuse.  You can even follow it up with a pretzel at Harpoon's new(ish) beer hall.

     There you go, kids.  At some point, I'm determined to make one long, delicious day out of this ever-expanding line up of Boston beerishness.  I encourage all of you to take advantage of any and all of this good news at your soonest opportunity!